Ugo Rondinone: ‘Soul’

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Ugo Rondinone’s “Soul,” a group of 37 figures ranging from just under 3 feet to nearly 7 feet tall, at the Gladstone Gallery.CreditCreditDavid Regen, Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels

Lately the ever-versatile artist Ugo Rondinone has focused with a certain steadiness on figurative sculpture — without, as usual, repeating himself. There have been life-size sculptures cast in wax from real people; blobbish nine-foot-high heads in clay; wall reliefs of masklike faces in black rubber. Now Mr. Rondinone has gone decidedly natural, if not primitive, creating a large clan (37) of figures from bluestone found in upstate New York, slightly flattened and stacked in a very raw way. Like real people, they are all different and all the same. Ranging from 2 1/2 feet tall to nearly 7 feet tall, they stand in loose rows on pedestals and among walls, all of which have been given a concrete skim coat. The result is quite striking, to say the least — something between a regiment of tomb guardians and an incredibly chic outdoor installation. There is also the suggestion of a factory showroom of mass-produced garden fixtures. (They might seem forlorn without their brethren.)

The titles are similar tongue-in-cheek contradictions. Under the overall banner of “Soul,” the individual sculptures are titled according to different emotional states — “The Contented,” “The Considerate,” “The Keen” — as in (one assumes) “The Contented” Soul, “The Keen” Soul, and so on.

At first it’s interesting to try to discern the emotion assigned each figure. Does the right leg of “The Keen” bend slightly in a way that suggests avidity or acuity? Does “The Certain” really seem more certain than “The Thrilled,” or vice versa? Perhaps Mr. Rondinone is spoofing the very idea of emotional expression, reminding us that we read as much into most artworks as we extract from them.